


Rebuild

by taywen



Series: The (New) House, Epicentre of the (New) Universe [2]
Category: Keys to the Kingdom - Garth Nix
Genre: Fluff, Gen, Non-Linear Narrative
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-11-19
Updated: 2014-03-12
Packaged: 2018-01-02 02:30:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,377
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1051462
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/taywen/pseuds/taywen
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The New Architect and the various other beings who survived on the Elysium rebuild the House.</p><p>Three sentence ficlets that take place in the (new) House before, during and after the events of 'Sixth Deaths...'</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**poker**

Perhaps predictably, Dr. Scamandros and Giac are awful at the game; Fred is little better, and Art has never played before, so Suzy ( _Lady Sunday_ ) dominates for the first few rounds.

After watching the others get cleaned out repeatedly, Sunday (the old one; they still haven't figured out what else to call him, seeing as he won't tell them his mortal name) deigns to join.

Suddenly Art gets _good_ , and Sunday displays a competitive streak that Suzy probably should have expected; it comes down to Art's sunglasses-covered eyes and set mouth and Sunday's own disdainful poker face and Suzy honestly doesn't know who is going to win.

**button**

"Well this is very nice," Fred says proudly, fussing over his new uniform. The buttons shine in the light, proclaiming his new rank: general.

"Yeah, yeah," Suzy grumbles, ignoring the exasperated looks Art and Fred send her, "I 'ad a whole faction named after me!"

**planning**

"You want to rebuild the House," Sunday repeats, clearly disbelieving.

"Yes," Art agrees patiently, "but I'll need your help planning it out; I just don't know enough about the House, and the Atlas is no help either."

Sunday huffs and blusters, but Suzy knows the higher ups pretty well, Denizen or sons of the (old) Architect: he'll do it.

**definition**

"What are you writing?" Fred asks curiously, peering over Sunday's shoulder.

The former Trustee stiffens, his hand making an aborted motion as if he means to cover the sheet of parchment and the fine, almost delicate handwriting scrawled across it; finally, he explains, "I am defining the Incomparable Gardens. Because it would be impossible to create something without _some_ idea of what the end product will be, and I do not want it to be an inferior, faded copy of the original," Sunday adds, when Fred opens his mouth to ask for clarification.

**kitten**

"What is it," Sunday says blankly, staring down at the small, purring bundle in Art's arms with obvious confusion.

" _She_ is a kitten, and her name is Emily," Art says, petting her.

"But _why_?"

**sled**

"This idea does not seem sound," Dr. Scamandros says dubiously, examining the wooden sleds arrayed at the top of the (new) Middle House's thrice-terraced, temporarily snow-covered mountain with a variety of sorcerous implements.

"What can possibly go wrong?" Suzy wonders blithely, but she makes Giac sit down first and pushes him off before he has a chance to protest.

"I'm not getting on one of those things," Sunday says loudly, once Giac's frightened screams have faded after he careened down the slope and off a cliff.

**ink**

"Official documents should be written in black ink," Sunday insists stubbornly, trying to prise the bottle from her fingers.

" _Blue_ or black ink!" Suzy retorts, not giving an inch.

" _Turquoise_... blue... is... inappropriate!" Sunday hisses as he continues to pull at the inkwell, though Suzy doesn't know why; she's going to win, of course.

**straw**

"Here," the New Architect says, handing Sunday a tall glass filled with pinkish liquid; a green and white striped straw is bent over the lip.

Sunday feels his lips quirk upwards in spite of himself, recalling his past posturing when Arthur had been chained to a replica of the Old One's clock.

"I didn't know what you were drinking back then, so it's just pink lemonade," the New Architect adds.

**attic**

"There should be an attic," Suzy says, "every interesting house has one!"

"Or we could simply rename the Upper House the Attic," Sunday says drily, then looks horrified when he realizes that, of all things, he's _bantering_ with his _usurper_.

Art exchanges looks with Fred, who's obviously biting his lip to keep from laughing; Dr. Scamandros and Giac look distressed at the thought, and Art finds himself having a hard time keeping a straight face too.

**flea**

"That thing gave me fleas!" Sunday says, scratching at a reddened patch of skin on the side of his neck before he seems to realize what he's doing; he makes a wordless noise of disgust and deliberately places his hand back on the desk.

"Emily wouldn't do that," Art says mildly, but quickly eradicates the fleas with a flick of his fingers before Sunday can get too worked up about it.

Sunday narrows his eyes, then goes back to ignoring Art and filling out Suzy's paperwork - in green ink, of course.

**contract**

So many of the arrangements within the (old) House had involved lengthy, fine-printed contracts, for none of the Trustees could trust the others to fulfill their side of a bargain without proper documentation (especially after that business with Wednesday and Saturday).

Sunday does not like nor approve of many of the changes (laughably termed "improvements" by the New Architect) that were introduced into the (new) House but he does appreciate the more trusting atmosphere that has prevailed since the New Architect's inception.

Even if Suzy is usually late or rather flippant when dealing with him, Sunday _knows_ that she will come through, eventually; that certainty, after millennia without it, is comforting.

 **kidnap** (doubled)

"This isn't a kidnapping, you're not a _child_ \-- it's an abduction," Sunday snaps irritably, unable to listen to Arthur's indignant tirade any longer; honestly, the New Architect's mostly-mortal half displays all of Art's poor qualities and none of his good ones.

"Oh, thanks, I feel so much better," Arthur spits at the same time as Suzy goes, "I think we should just call it an intervention; that doesn't have the same criminal connotation," and Sunday has to resist the urge to throw up his hands and stalk away.

"Weren't you going on about me doing my job properly earlier," Arthur says, glaring at Sunday accusingly like he knows the former Trustee is the weakest link in this so-called intervention.

"Your work will continue to be subpar if you don't stop sulking," Sunday retorts.

"Arthur," Fred, ever the peacemaker, steps between them and disengages the grip Suzy has on Arthur's arm, "we're just worried about you; it's not like Art would make you do anything you didn't want or something, you know?"

Arthur's jaw clenches, but he nods jerkily, which Sunday figures is the best they can expect to come out of this stupid plan.

**novel**

"What is this," Sunday says, not sparing the bundle of untidy parchment that Suzy dropped on the desk before him a single glance.

"It's a slightly-exaggerated account of my adventures with Arthur before the New Universe," Suzy says proudly.

Sunday looks down his nose at it, taking note of her chicken scratch (he's reasonably sure Suzy's writing gets worse when she knows it's going to pass before him) and the strange doodles in the margins; he wonders if it will be any worse than the blatant piece of propaganda that some Thesaurus had dreamt up after Arthur took the Far Reaches.

**iPad**

"Another useless human invention," Sunday mutters, eyeing the iPad dubiously.

"Just try it, Sunday," the New Architect urges, then thankfully gets bored and goes off to do whatever it is he does about the House when he is not bothering Sunday.

Sunday pointedly ignores the New Architect's startled-but-pleased laugh when he comes back to find Sunday struggling over level 80-something of Candy Crush, paperwork forgotten.

**witch**

"It's almost worse that, not only did I lose to you, you're so _chummy_ with the New Architect," Saturday remarks, her disgust plain.

Sunday stiffens, an impassioned defense of the New Architect on the tip of his tongue before he quite realizes it - for all that he does not necessarily approve of the New Architect, he certainly does not approve of Saturday disparaging him.

Saturday just laughs at his prolonged silence, and he isn't sure if his cheeks burn from anger or embarrassment.

**salon**

"This is ridiculous," Sunday says for approximately the twentieth time, because it really bears repeating and if he doesn't distract himself from the mixture of amused and confused looks from the salon's other patrons, he will probably do something that Suzy will make him regret.

"Oh, shush," Leaf says mildly, as if she is not Dusk to Sunday's Noon; the hierarchy has gotten all confused since the New Architect took over.

"I said I wanted to get my hair cut and you can provide moral support as my Times," Suzy hisses, though Sunday notices that _Arthur_ is not present; the indignities just keep piling on, ever since the New Architect brought him back.

**snail**

"These things were definitely not in the original Incomparable Gardens," Suzy insists, disbelieving.

Sunday huffs, all offended, and goes, "Of course they were, everything is _exactly_ as it was," the unspoken, outraged _are you doubting me_ clearly conveyed nonetheless.

"She means it in a good way," Art says, squinting at the massive snails crawling about before them, then adds _probably_ to himself.


	2. Saturday & Wednesday

**dismantle**

"You are dismantling the tower," Saturday says, frowning at the various Denizens and Piper's children swarming around on the structure above.

"It serves no purpose," Scamandros, the new Sorceror Superior of the Upper House, replies calmly; but the ever-shifting tattoos on his cheeks betray his anxiety.

And Saturday had thought it rankling when _Sunday_ was placed above her; to serve this vulnerable upstart should be ten, no, a thousand times worse- yet she finds that she is not as upset at the prospect as she should be.

 **sin** (doubled)

"You have done something- taken something from me," Saturday says accusingly; but even this knowledge does not incite the jealous fury that losing something rightfully hers would have in the past.

"I have cured you of your envy," the New Architect corrects, his expression unreadable behind those ridiculous tinted lens.

Saturday stiffens, but realizes that he speaks the truth; yet if she had not even noticed that, what else has he changed about her, without her knowledge or her consent?

"That is the only thing I changed," the New Architect adds, as if reading her thoughts," and I have done the same for all the former Trustees."

She relaxes slightly; for once, she would not have been pleased to be singled out. "You had no right," she says anyway, because Sunday is obviously not going to oppose the New Architect in any meaningful way; once more it falls to her to administer these things.

**detente**

Saturday is not sure what she was expecting when Scamandros sent her to the Border Sea for some obviously contrived reason, but a secluded meal alone with Drowned Wednesday is not it.

"Hungry?" Wednesday asks, her green eyes glittering.

Saturday hesitates, a thousand things (apologies, excuses, defiant explanations) flashing through her mind and none of them suitable to voice; she reaches for a dainty and takes a delicate bite instead.

**detente 2**

Saturday does not apologize; Wednesday does not know what she would have done if her former friend had.

"I did what I thought was necessary," is all Saturday says on the matter of her betrayal; it's a simple statement of fact, no defensiveness or defiance.

"As did I," Wednesday replies, watching with a curious feeling of detachment as Saturday eats the meal Duke Sunscorch had graciously supplied.

**past imperfect**

"I wish the New Architect would bring Her back, sometimes," Saturday says, not looking at Sunday; she isn't sure if she wants to know what his reaction is.

"So you can ask Her why?" Sunday replies, his tone neutral. When Saturday doesn't answer, he adds, "I wonder that myself; I don't know what She could possibly answer- or if I'd even want to know," and Saturday finds that she can't disagree with that sentiment.

**wave**

Wednesday sits at the end of the pier, her feet dangling just above the water. The bottom of her skirt is damp, the result of several waves lapping around her shins and soaking the fabric.

She has yet to go swimming since her "restoration", but she's getting there.

**pie**

She has a deep-seated revulsion of consuming food, but since Denizens do not actually _need_ to eat, Wednesday has thus far managed to avoid it.

Dawn watches her with worry obvious in her eyes, and sometimes Art looks at her (though it's impossible to tell what he's thinking most of the time).

Wednesday pretends not to notice and busies herself with other things: she has found that making food is an enjoyable pastime, and giving out treats like pie or cake goes a long way to distracting those who worry about her.


	3. Leaf, back on Earth

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> for an anon on tumblr
> 
> still taking prompts if people on here want to read more or something!

**lift**

Leaf had said she’d had more than enough adventures for a lifetime and she’d meant it, really, but-

But every time she gets into an elevator Leaf finds herself holding her breath, half-expecting (and half-hoping) that when the doors slide open she’ll find herself thousands of feet in the air or on the deck of a ship or the middle of a labyrinth.

She’s more relieved than not when she ends up where she expects rather than in the House, but the feeling of sheer _possibility_ that comes with boarding an elevator never quite dissipates no matter how many years pass.

**music**

It’s honestly a surprise when Leaf finds herself sitting next to Arthur in band class after, well, everything; she’s been through so much with him and she hadn’t known that music was his passion.

"I told you I beat Grim Tuesday with a song I started composing when I was eight," Arthur points out when she says as much to him.

"Oh, sorry, I guess I forgot in the middle of _everything else that happened_ ,” Leaf retorts scathingly; Arthur laughs, loud enough to draw the disapproving stare of their classmates and the teacher, but she hasn’t heard him laugh since they returned to Earth so Leaf doesn’t pay them any mind.

**mature**

"You’re so serious ever since you and Arthur came back from ‘the House’," Ed grumbles, the air quotes audible from his tone; Leaf chooses to ignore it, because some days she isn’t even sure everything _really_ happened, except she still has scars from her time as a ship’s boy and the brief stint as Lieutenant-Keeper.

"Well, you know what they say," Leaf says dismissively, "I guess girls do mature faster than boys."

Ed scowls at that, but any sort of protest would only serve to prove Leaf’s point so he stays silent; Leaf very maturely refrains from smirking.

**Author's Note:**

> If you want to see a specific character or scenario, feel free to drop me a prompt. :)


End file.
